High court allows suit against deputy

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed parents to press ahead with a lawsuit against a Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed their 13-year-old son who was walking on a sidewalk carrying a plastic pellet gun.

The justices without comment or dissent denied the California county’s appeal seeking immunity for the officer. The court’s decision clears the way for the parents’ wrongful-death suit to go before a jury.

In recent years, the high court has repeatedly blocked lawsuits against law enforcement officers for using excessive force, but it refused to do so in the case of Gelhaus vs. Lopez.

The shooting of Andy Lopez on an October afternoon on a sidewalk in Santa Rosa sparked protests and rallies five years ago. The 5-foot-3 boy was seen carrying a plastic gun that Deputy Erick Gelhaus, an Iraq war veteran, thought might be an AK-47.

He and another deputy were on patrol when they spotted the boy and pulled their car behind him. Gelhaus jumped from the car, crouched behind the door and shouted: “Drop the gun.”

As Andy turned toward him, Gelhaus fired eight shots and killed him.

No charges were brought against the deputy, but the boy’s parents sued him, alleging an excessive use of force and a violation of the 4th Amendment’s ban on “unreasonable seizures.”